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Twister, 80s clothing, camping nights, painted faces: Boyce student life
September 25, 2006
By Garrett E. Wishall
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Female students compete in Twister at the "80s ladies surprise night" at Boyce College, Sept. 8. Photo from Boyce College
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The vision of Boyce College is to develop students who will impact the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Part of that vision is creating a community where students can develop Christ-honoring relationships.
The recent student council-sponsored "80s ladies night" and men's camping night were events designed to fulfill this purpose.
Thirty ladies dressed in their best 1980s attire gathered in Boyce chapel on the evening of Sept. 8 to receive orders.
"We split the girls into six teams," said Lindsey Poenie, vice-president of the Boyce student council. "We gave each team a list of places to go, and they got into cars and did a video scavenger hunt throughout Louisville. They had to take a picture and get a puzzle piece at each location, and they returned to Boyce chapel when they were done."
Returning to the chapel, the girls com-peted in a lively game of Twister, enjoyed food and fellowship. Kristin Scroggins, wife of Boyce Dean Jimmy Scroggins, also presented a devotional from Romans 12:1 on being a living sacrifice, a sweet fragrance, to the Lord.
Thirty miles away, their male counterparts were making memories of their own.
A group of 30 students traveled to Jefferson Memorial Forest for men's camping night. The group hiked, threw a Frisbee around, roasted hot dogs over a roaring fire, played cards and stayed up late. Dan DeWitt, associate director of student life for men, talked from Philippians 3:12-13 about pressing forward and focusing on the prize, and Emil Handke, student council president, shared about the importance of focusing on Christ.
The group returned to the Boyce cam-pus Saturday morning.
The fun these students have is different from the "fun" that non-Christian students have at secular colleges and universities because it has a purpose, the students say. Handke said his goal as student council president is to see students grow in Christ-likeness.
"My heartbeat as being a part of a student council is not just to plan events, but also to see life-change happen in students, particularly the guys," he said. "I want to see the guys and girls grow in their relationship with Christ, abide in Him and seek Him with everything that they have. We have some social events that are fun, hang-out times, but more importantly we want to see God move powerfully in students' lives."
Handke noted that the council often interweaves devotional elements into their social events, evidenced by DeWitt's presentation at the men's camping night and Scroggins' devotional at the women's 80s night.
Kristin Yeldell, student council supervisor and associate director of student life — primarily responsible for women's life, said her desire is to see a Christ-like community develop at Boyce and to expose female students specifically to godly women who can serve as their mentors.
"For students as a whole we want to cultivate community through Christ-honoring relationships," she said.
"For the women, everything we do is geared toward giving them a picture of God's plan for them as women. We try to put women like Kristin Scroggins in front of them, who are faithfully walking with God and doing ministry."
Yeldell said one student council event is focused on the spiritual development of students: "Focus," a prayer and worship event at the beginning of each semester.
"Focus is a time of focused prayer and worship for Boyce students that is student-led," she said. "Focus sets the tone for the rest of the semester as students come together and worship God and pray together."
More than 100 students participated in the Aug. 25 Focus event under the theme "Seeking the face of God."
Taryn Walker, spiritual life coordinator on the student council, said her role is to promote spiritual wellness on campus and she said student feedback revealed Focus' positive impact.
"I have had students say that the Lord used Focus to show them things in their life that need to be taken care of and to draw them closer to Himself," she said. "I have been encouraged by times when I have had coffee or lunch with girls and spent time with them one on one. Walking through their struggles and being a friend to them has been encouraging for me."
Poenie, a senior, said she has been edified by watching a community develop among female students at Boyce during her time at the college.
"When I first came there were not very many events for the women, and that has really grown and evolved in the past four years," she said.
"We talk about biblical womanhood a lot, but we don't really know what it looks like, so we try to get older women to come and speak on different topics. We also want to have fun social times where we can get to know each other on a personal level and not just an academic level. We are also trying to develop unity and a sense of student pride and community among the female students."
Poenie said the prospect of having a basketball team, which begins play Oct. 28, adds another measure of excitement to student life. The Boyce Bulldogs' home opener is set for Nov. 4.
Aaron Filippone, resident life super-visor at Boyce, said many festivities would surround the home opener, including a tailgate party on the seminary lawn, pep rally and several free giveaways. Filippone said he wouldn't be surprised to see a few painted faces in the stands at the game.
If you visit the campus of Boyce College and see female students sporting 1980s garb and a group of male students running around with painted faces, don't be alarmed. They are just developing relationships.
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